Summary

Gotham Sound and Communications, Inc.’s rentals department successfully supported a high-profile Netflix film production by providing a robust and reliable network setup using Netgear AV switches. This case study highlights the challenges faced, the solutions implemented, and the results achieved.

Background

Gotham Sound and Communications, Inc. is a renowned provider of audio and communication solutions for the film and television industry. For an upcoming Netflix film, the production team required a sophisticated network setup to facilitate real-time communication between various sets and government agencies depicted in the film.

Challenges

The primary challenge was to design a network that could handle bi-directional high-fidelity audio between multiple sets, which were built on adjacent sound stages. The network needed to be reliable, easy to manage, and capable of supporting both Dante and AES67 audio protocols without compromising performance.

Solution

Gotham Sound’s rentals department proposed using Netgear AV switches as the backbone for the Dante network. The team decided on a star topology with a main switch and several satellite switches connected via fiber. They standardized on the Netgear AV line of switches and used specific SFP+ modules for connectivity.

Implementation

The implementation involved:

• Setting up a star topology with Netgear AV switches.
• Standardizing all switches on the same model for consistency and ease of management.
• Using specific SFP+ modules for fiber connectivity.
• Configuring VLANs to separate Dante and control traffic, ensuring optimal performance.
• Providing setup notes and best practices to the production team for smooth operation.

Result

The network setup provided by Gotham Sound’s rentals department enabled seamless real-time communication between the sets, meeting the filmmakers’ requirements. The use of Netgear AV switches ensured reliability and high performance, contributing to the success of the film production.

Gotham Sound plans to continue leveraging Netgear AV switches for future projects, further refining their network designs and configurations to meet the evolving needs of the film and television industry.